1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to wireless communication between consumer electronics devices and, more particularly, to the use of Near Field Communication tags for simplifying the process of pairing, or establishing secure communications between, two or more consumer electronics devices—including in-vehicle systems, mobile phones, MP3 music players, laptop computers, gaming systems, digital cameras, and others.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many modern consumer electronics devices use the Bluetooth standard for wirelessly communicating with other such devices. One simple example is a Bluetooth headset for a mobile phone. Once the headset and the mobile phone are “paired”—that is, they have established a communication channel between the two devices—then the user of the mobile phone can operate the phone in a hands-free fashion via the wireless headset. Other examples of Bluetooth-compatible devices include small personal music players which can use Bluetooth to wirelessly play their music over the amplifier and speakers of a larger stereo system, and personal computers which can use Bluetooth to wirelessly connect many types of peripheral devices.
Bluetooth technology has also become a popular feature in vehicles. Many vehicles now include capability for a driver or occupant to wirelessly connect a personal consumer electronics device with the vehicle's embedded entertainment and communication systems via Bluetooth. One example of this is using a vehicle's microphone and speaker system to operate a driver's mobile phone in a hands-free fashion. Another example is playing music from a small personal music player through a vehicle's stereo sound system. Bluetooth wireless connectivity has gained rapid acceptance for these types of applications and many others.
But until now, “pairing” two Bluetooth devices—that is, establishing secure communications between them—has been a cumbersome process. This is because security measures have been designed into the process of establishing Bluetooth communications between devices to prevent access by unknown or unauthorized devices. The security measures include the required sharing of encryption keys between devices, and this leads to a process that is often found to be confusing or problematic to the device users. The same type of problem exists in establishing wireless Local Area Network (wireless LAN, also known as Wi-Fi) connectivity between a computer and a wireless router. What is needed is a way to maintain the security of using an encryption key to establish either Bluetooth or Wi-Fi connectivity, but make the pairing process much simpler for the device user.